It took me a while to find this category because these books apparently go by two names, the Graceling Realm trilogy and the Seven Kingdoms trilogy. I think the name Graceling Realm works better, and I wish the trilogy was listed under that. (After all, there are nine kingdoms, not seven.) Anyway, I enjoyed all three books so much that I was almost scared to write a fanfiction for them. I knew it would never be anywhere near as good.

Well, it definitely isn't as good, but I wrote one anyway. This story is set during Bitterblue - specifically, during the final scene of chapter 40.

As Bitterblue laid down on the sofa to sleep, her friends were still at the table, discussing Council business. Their conversation was loud and excited, but instead of keeping Bitterblue awake, their familiar voices wrapped around her like a soft blanket, and she fell asleep easily.

The girl in her dream was fearless. She was happy and carefree, walking from one rooftop to another as if it were a game. She walked across the castle roof, higher than a bird could fly, and yet she was not afraid.

"Lady Queen?" Helda asked, shaking her shoulder gently. "Come to your bed, Lady Queen. You'll sleep better there."

Bitterblue stirred on the sofa, sat up, and yawned. It was late, and her sitting room was now dark and empty. Her friends had retired to their own rooms for the night, and the fire in the fireplace had died out. Just earlier that evening, Bitterblue had been afraid of falling asleep alone, but now, the fearless feeling of her dream lingered in her, and she let Helda help her to her bedroom.

She had fallen asleep on the sofa with her hair still done up, and so Helda sat her down at her dressing table to take her hairpins out for her. Bitterblue leaned forward, with her chin in one hand; she felt brave, safe, and sleepy all at once, and it was a pleasant feeling. She closed her eyes briefly and remembered her dream. How calm, how peaceful, the city had looked from above.

"Did you know, Helda," she said drowsily, opening her eyes again, "I've learnt what Saf's Grace is. It's giving dreams. If he tells you what to dream about, or if he even thinks it, whatever it is, the dream will come. Just now, I dreamed that I was walking across all the rooftops in the city, and I wasn't afraid. He gave it to me, to help me get over my fear of heights."

"Well," Helda said thoughtfully, removing more pins from Bitterblue's hair, "I'd never heard of a Graceling not knowing their Grace before... but I suppose if you were Graced with giving dreams, then you wouldn't know, unless someone told you. How did you figure it out, Lady Queen?"

"He gave me a dream once before, without knowing it," Bitterblue explained. "He told to dream of something pleasant, 'like babies,' he said, and that night, I dreamed of myself as a baby in my mother's arms. I'd never dreamed of that before."

She fell silent, remembering, as Helda removed the last pin and began to brush her hair. "Yes, babies are a pleasant thing to dream of," Helda agreed. "I do hope - " But then she stropped, abruptly, and Bitterblue felt the brush stop moving through her hair. She looked in the mirror, and saw that behind her, Helda had gone perfectly still, with a wondrous look on her face, as if she had thought of something splendid.

"Lady Queen," she asked, almost breathlessly, "tell me, could he - could this young man give Lady Katsa a dream about babies?"

Bitterblue remembered something that Katsa had once confided to her about their faithful servant. I do love Helda, but if she doesn't stop brow-beating Po and I about having babies, I fear she'll drive me mad.

"Well, I suppose - " Bitterblue began, but Helda interrupted her.

"Oh, but he must. You simply must ask him to give Lady Katsa a dream about babies." Helda looked as delighted as Bitterblue had ever seen her, and she began to brush her hair again, going on obliviously. "That's just what Lady Katsa needs, don't you see? That's the very thing - a nice dream where she and Prince Po get married, and they have lots of babies, and they're all just as happy as can be. Doesn't that sound sweet?"

She looked so happy herself, and there had been so much unhappiness in their lives lately, that Bitterblue didn't want to spoil it for her. She tried to let her down gently. "I'm not sure if Katsa will decide to marry Po and have children just because of a dream."

Helda's happiness wasn't spoiled in the least. "Well, no, of course not, but..." She paused and sighed dreamily. "...who knows what seed it might just plant in her mind? It could be the very push Lady Katsa needs. Goodness knows that I haven't been able to get through to her on the subject. You'll ask the young man about it when you see him next, won't you, Lady Queen? Oh, he simply must give Lady Katsa this dream. A wedding, and lots of babies, and everyone's happy - be sure that he puts all those things into the dream, now. Shall I write them down for you?"

Bitterblue opened her mouth to answer, but she was so sleepy that she yawned instead.

"Oh, dear," Helda fretted, "forgive me, Lady Queen. Here I am prattling on when you need your rest. Come to bed." She pulled Bitterblue gently to her feet and led her across the room to her bed. "Now, you go right to sleep, and don't worry about a thing. Good night," she said, as Bitterblue settled in beneath the blankets. It was as if Katsa having a dream about babies would solve every problem in the kingdom - and perhaps for Helda, it would.

"Mm-hm," Bitterblue murmured, and she slid peacefully back to sleep, while Helda, with visions of Po and Katsa's future children before her, practically danced across the moonlit floor to her own room.

FIN